News from Opening Bell

In a book review on Inside Higher Ed (8/1), Charlie Typson writes that a new book by Elisabeth Green “Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone)” is being published this month. Green criticizes what the calls the “myth of the natural-born teacher” and argues that our “education schools” are not doing enough to prepare teachers for the classroom. She says teachers must develop specific skills, including “the ability to understand why students make the mistakes they do; the ability to assess the merits of a textbook or a curriculum for a particular class; the ability to communicate with parents and guardians; and more expertise in their subjects.” Green also calls for more “practice-oriented approach to teacher education,” which she says has been “too divorced from what goes on in real classrooms.”